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Method and apparatus for providing touch and play (tap) - based service and system using the method and apparatus

Method and apparatus for providing touch and play (tap) - based service and system using the method and apparatus description/claims

The present invention relates to a method of receiving a service using two devices, and more particularly, to an apparatus and method for providing a touch and play (TAP)-based service, the apparatus and method enabling a user to receive a desired service by touching two apparatuses.

Consumers now desire to connect a mobile terminal to another mobile terminal or various peripherals. Accordingly, there are a variety of connection methods used by diverse mobile terminal manufacturers, such as a docking system unique to each product, connection terminals, and various memory devices.

A recently adopted Universal Serial Bus On-The-Go (USB OTG) standard reflects the growing needs for data exchange between two devices. However, considering that devices to be connected are mobile devices, the USB OTG standard has the following disadvantages. First, users have to carry USB cables, which are not easy to carry around. In addition, the users themselves have to connect or disconnect two devices. Therefore, if such connections or disconnections occur frequently, a lot of time and efforts are wasted on the part of users, which are not at all desirable. Theses disadvantages stem from the fact that the USB OTG standard is based on wired communication technology.

On the other hand, wireless communication technology eliminates the need to carry cables. However, the wireless communication technology has technological problems associated with wireless technology, such as power consumption, costs, and frequency regulations. Furthermore, the wireless communication technology has the following disadvantages in interface engineering aspects.

Given the current trend that many devices are installed in a narrower space, there is a high probability that many devices will exist in a wireless network in the future. In addition, a network connection between devices is different from that of a conventional network.

Such network connections and disconnections frequently occur depending on users' actual activities. In addition, the duration of network connection is generally short. For example, in the case of Bluetooth, if a user desires to print a picture from a personal digital assistant (PDA), the user has to search for a network and then an available device in the found network. Next, the user has to select a printer and connect the selected printer to the PDA. Then, the user selects the picture to print and selects a print menu. Finally, the user disconnects the network connection. Some of these operations may be preset with a few button clicks on a menu. Hence, the number of operations performed by the user may be reduced. However, this kind of network connection and disconnection still require the concentration, time and intervention of the user. Furthermore, the user needs to be familiar with how to use the PDA.

Intuition is an important requirement for future application devices. As devices become sophisticated, people tend to have trouble learning how to use those devices.

In an example of interaction between a camera and a printer, a conventional method using Bluetooth or an USB requires a user to perform network connection before starting a printing operation and perform network disconnection after the printing operation. However, such network management activities are not directly relevant to the printing operation, which is a major interest of the user. The network connection and disconnection are mere processes required for the printing operation.

However, the user has to understand and learn these processes in order to perform the printing operation.

The present invention provides a method, apparatus and system which can automatically identify a service to be provided to a user through the interaction between a plurality of devices touched by the user and provide the identified service to the user.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of providing a touch and play (TAP)-based service. The method includes setting respective device identifiers of a plurality of devices which can be connected to a device using an organism as a transmission channel and setting services to be provided to a user through the interaction between the device and each of the devices corresponding to the device identifiers, respectively; having at least two execution levels so that one of the at least two execution levels can be selected in order to determine whether to execute a service in cooperation with one of the devices and setting one of the at least two execution levels according to an input from a user; receiving a device identifier of another device if the device is connected to one of the devices using the organism as the transmission channel; recognizing services set for the other device and identifying a service that is to be provided to the user through the interaction between the device and the other device; determining whether to execute the identified service according to the set execution level; and automatically recognizing information required to provide the service that is determined to be executed in cooperation with the other device and executing the determined service.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of providing a TAP-based service. The method includes setting respective device identifiers of a plurality of devices which can be connected to a device using an organism as a transmission channel and setting services to be provided to a user through the interaction between the device and each of the devices corresponding to the device identifiers, respectively; receiving a device identifier of another device if the device is connected to one of the devices using the organism as the transmission channel; recognizing services set for the other device and identifying a service to be provided to the user through the interaction between the device and the other device; determining which of the device and the other device connected to the device is a master or a slave; exchanging signals using a master/slave method in which the master initiates data transmission and the slave responds to the master if a master/slave relationship between the two devices is determined; and automatically recognizing information required to provide the service that is determined to be executed in cooperation with the other device and executing the determined service.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for providing a TAP-based service. The apparatus includes a service setting unit setting respective device identifiers of a plurality of devices which can be connected to the apparatus using an organism as a transmission channel and setting services that are to be provided to a user through the interaction between the apparatus and each of the devices corresponding to the device identifiers, respectively; an execution level setting unit having at least two execution levels so that one of the at least two execution levels can be selected in order to determine whether to execute a service in cooperation with one of the devices and setting one of the at least two execution levels according to an input from a user; a service determination unit receiving a device identifier of one of the devices if the apparatus is connected to the device using the organism as the transmission channel, recognizing services set for the device, identifying a service to be provided to the user through the interaction between the apparatus and the device, and determining whether to execute the identified service according to the execution level set by the user; and a service execution unit automatically recognizing information required to provide the service that is determined to be executed in cooperation with the device and executing the determined service.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for providing a TAP-based service. The apparatus includes a service setting unit setting respective device identifiers of a plurality of devices which can be connected to the apparatus using an organism as a transmission channel and setting services to be provided to a user through the interaction between the apparatus and each of the devices corresponding to the device identifiers, respectively; a service determination unit receiving a device identifier of one of the devices if the apparatus is connected to the device using the organism as the transmission channel, recognizing services set for the device, and identifying a service that is to be provided to the user through the interaction between the apparatus and the device; and a service execution unit determining which of the apparatus and the device connected to the apparatus is a master or a slave, automatically recognizing information required to provide a service that is determined to be executed in cooperation with the device after the apparatus and the device exchange signals using a master/slave method in which the master initiates data transmission and the slave responds to the master, and executing the determined service.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system for providing a TAP-based service using the interaction between a plurality of devices, each of the devices including a touch unit transmitting/receiving information to/from another device using at least one organism as a transmission channel when the organism touches the device and the other device; a context collection unit collecting context information including the transmitted/received information from the touch by the organism; a service determination unit determining a service that is to be provided to a user through the interaction between the device and the other device based on the collected context information; and a service execution unit executing an operation corresponding to the determined service.

According to the present invention, a user may receive a desired service by simply touching devices related to the desired service. The present invention still requires network connection and disconnection. However, user intervention is not required in the process of network connection and disconnection. In addition, all context information required for network connection and data transmission can be obtained from the touching behavior of the user, thus eliminating the need for user intervention.

According to the present invention, if identifiers and data are all transmitted through human body communication, data communication is limited to the human body. Therefore, the problems of privacy and wiretapping can be easily solved.

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• Utility Patent

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